A Major Disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Despite certain other "reviews", this movie is NOT Taiwanese, it is Thai, Thailand and Taiwan are a long way apart, certainly in distance if not in culture.If you expect to see any Thai movies that are based on Western precepts, then you will be decidedly disappointed.Belief in ghosts, black magic is normal in Thailand, ridiculous scenarios (to us Westerners) seem perfectly logical to Thais.It is a movie with its faults like many movies, it is not by any means perfect.But these sort of movies should be viewed with a bit of a different perspective to the multi million Spielberg Hollywood trash, generally, most Thai movies seem to be either slapstick ranting and screaming, whereas once in a while you will find a more reasonable stance, at least you can watch this without cringing.If you watch these movies, you really need to expect to have all logic turned on its head regarding what you are generally used to.Not my cup of tea, but better than so many from here.

It seems that Thailand is trying to jump head-first into the horror scene that has long been dominated in Asia by the Japanese. They have a long way to go to surpass some of the more notable "underground" horror films from Japan - but with some solid entries, and some more interesting looking films on the way - the Thai's may yet make their mark on Asia's horror scene...ART OF THE DEVIL is about a girl who gets pregnant by a rich businessman and then blackmails him for money after he offers to pay her off to keep quiet about the child. When he refuses to pay up any longer, the girl seeks the help of a sorcerer to seek revenge on the businessman and his family...Very reminiscent of some of the early 80's HK gore films in terms of black-magic subject matter, and eel-puking revenge - ART OF THE DEVIL isn't exactly a unique film. Hong Kong directors have been making these types of films since the early 80's, but ART OF THE DEVIL does it with better production values and with a more coherent and interesting storyline. I was supremely disappointed that there was no nudity in this film, as some of the leading ladies were quite smokin'...but overall, ART OF THE DEVIL is a worthy entry in the Asian horror realm. 7/10

This is the story of a young woman seduced and then dumped by her older, married lover after she gets pregnant; she avenges herself against him, and his entire family, through black magic — which, disappointingly, she doesn't do herself but has someone else do for her. Good production values for a Thai horror flick. But the bland script never generates suspense, the director approaches the material entirely conventionally, and the final act loses viewer sympathy for the victims by throwing logic to the winds. At one point, a character has a prime opportunity to simply shoot the villainess dead, and instead she gets up and runs away without picking up the gun. Bad writing — you're soaking in it! Some icky gore effects, including a really tasteless late-term-fetus corpse and one guy dying from having hundreds of live eels burst out of his stomach. Only recommended for genre completists who simply have to see every horror film produced in Asia in the last 15 years.

"Art of the Devil" is Thanit Jitnukul's first stab at horror which tells the story about one family's disaster after the father's mistress uses black magic to get revenge against him.The back of my VCD says:a mysterious and bizarre murder of a millionaire's entire family grips the attention of the public.Not a clue is uncovered; not a person can be fingered as the killer.The mysterious and gruesome deaths baffle everyone.A crime reporter goes to investigate the case, which leads to a beautiful lady.How can he convince others that she is the mistress of the occult,a witch who is skilled in the art of the devil."Art of the Devil" offers some gruesome effects including eels vomiting and bloody regurgitation.The acting is mediocre,but the film is quite interesting.Still there is not enough tension for my liking,but if you like horror films which deal with black magic you can give it a try.7 out of 10.